Same Difference
by Elioclya
Summary: When Rose Tyler discovers there's a Captain Jack Harkness in the alternate universe, she knows she has to meet him. Beta'd by the wonderful raynedanser.
1. Unexpected Familiarity

Rose resisted the urge to turn her car around.

It didn't matter how hard this was going to be; it still needed to be done.

She was going to meet Captain Jack Harkness.

It had been nearly seven years since she started working at Torchwood, and it was only now that she'd found his file. Only now that whispers of Torchwood Three even came to her ears.

She'd known about Torchwood Two of course. That was in Glasgow, and almost as important as the London branch. But Torchwood Three had never been mentioned.

When she first heard about it, very much intrigued and even a little affronted that nobody had ever bothered to mention it to her, she'd gone to her desk and brought up the files. It had been set up quietly in Cardiff a few years ago, mainly to monitor the rift which the city was built on, and continued to encounter all sorts of alien activity. She wondered if there'd been one in her own world with the same aim. The team was small - only five of them. She didn't bother to look at most of them; just went straight for the leader.

And there he was.

He looked exactly the same. And she knew she had to meet him.

They'd all tried to stop her, reminding her that it wasn't the same Jack and that he wouldn't even know her, but she didn't really think any of them had the right to comment on this. Mickey had become Ricky almost without hesitation; her mum and Pete had taken the roles of their parallel world counterparts with surprising ease. Jack might not know her, but he'd still essentially be Jack.

It was only now that she was actually entering Cardiff that the reality was beginning to hit her.

She'd said goodbye to the Doctor all those years ago; it had taken a long time to get past the initial grief and heartbreak, but she'd done it. She'd even dated a few people since then, and although nothing had ever come of it, she'd proved to herself that she'd moved on. She no longer spent her life mourning. But now she was going to see a man who was the exact image of someone she'd only known because of her time with the Doctor; someone who'd been there for them both; someone who'd died for them. And yet it wouldn't really be him. The potential emotional fallout, she was beginning to realise, was huge.

It didn't matter.

She had to see him. Logic wasn't important; reasons weren't important.

She just had to do it. It was as simple as that.

Pete had been sympathetic enough to organise for her visit to be an official one, to avoid as much potential awkwardness as possible. That way, she could tell Jack the truth if it seemed appropriate; if not, she could simply depart, taking with her a report on the running of Torchwood Three, and leave it at that.

Apparently someone was going to meet her on the Plass and take her into the Hub. She made her way to the docks and began to pace back and forth across the paving slabs, getting more and more agitated as the minutes ticked by.

"Miss Tyler?" came a soft Welsh lilt, and Rose span around. And breathed in sharply, eyes blinking furiously.

She was expecting a familiar face, but not this one.

"Is something wrong?" the woman asked, frowning and coming closer to lay a comforting hand on her arm.

"No... I mean... yes... I mean..." Rose paused, confused. "You just look a lot like someone I knew, that's all. Her name was Gwyneth... she died..." Her voice trailed off and she tried to pull herself together, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry."

"That's okay. Are you Rose Tyler?" Rose nodded. "I'm Gwen Cooper. If you'll just follow me I'll take you inside."

She followed Gwen across the Plass and along the docks, then into a building fronted with wooden panelling. She was somewhat surprised to find herself in an office which looked a lot like a tourist information centre. She supposed it made sense though. In a place as public as this, a cover story would be vital.

Sitting behind the desk was a dark haired man in a suit and tie; despite her preoccupation, she couldn't help thinking he looked a bit out of place, too smart for his surroundings.

"Ianto Jones," introduced Gwen. "He makes the best coffee in the world."

"I try my best." He smiled, looking slightly nervous. Rose smiled back, trying to mask her own anxiety.

"Nice to meet you." Ianto nodded in response, and moved something underneath the desk. One of the leaflet stands seemed to open up before her, revealing a dark passageway.

Well, here goes, she thought, and followed Gwen into the Hub. 


	2. Background Research

The first thing she noticed was that something was flying around. Flying around, and making rather strange noises. She looked up, trying to determine what it was.

"Oh, that's just our resident pterodactyl," Gwen said, grinning as Rose turned to look at her in surprise. "It's almost tame, but it still likes to eat sheep when it goes out at night."

"Erm... you let it out?"

"Only at night, and it's hardly ever been spotted. It came through the rift, and they thought bringing it here would be best. Before my time. Anyway. Welcome to Torchwood Three."

The room, Rose noticed now, was a bit chaotic. The ceiling was high, very high, with a thick central column rising in the middle of the room, and there were pieces of unidentifiable equipment everywhere. There was a pair of locked gates which seemed to lead down another dark passage; there were also a few steps leading to an upper level. This was clearly an office area; there were several desks, each covered with paperwork, bits of random technology and large computer screens. It was dark and gloomy, and nothing like the office she worked in at Torchwood One; that was bright and clean and airy, and... well... normal was the best word she could come up with. This was much more raw and gritty, and more real somehow; it gave the impression that there were much more important things to worry about than decorating. Which, all things considered, was probably very true.

"It's not exactly state of the art, I know. But it does its job."

"It's different, yeah, but I think it's good different. It's a lot spookier than Torchwood One though." She started to climb the short flight of steps, then stopped. "Isn't anyone else around?"

"Not right now, they're all out. We have a constant Weevil problem."

Rose wasn't sure whether she was relieved or frustrated. On the one hand, she had a little extra breathing space. On the other, she'd already had the whole of a two and a half hour car journey for that. Pete had suggested she take the zeppelin, which would have been quicker, but she'd never quite got used to the way they moved, and had decided that today wasn't the day to face that. Maybe if she had, she'd have been more grateful for the extra preparation time.

She walked over to the nearest desk, her eyes glancing over the paperwork. Some sort of calculations. Maths still wasn't her strong point, even after putting herself through the two years of intellectual training Torchwood offered, and these were clearly written in a kind of short hand. Something to do with the Rift, she guessed, but that was all she could gather.

Realising that Gwen was watching her curiously, she moved away from the desk, towards an uncomfortable looking sofa sandwiched between two filing cabinets. She gestured for Gwen to join her, figuring that she might as well make use of her time now she was here.

"So, you haven't been here that long?"

"No, I've been here about six years now, it's just that the dinosaur's been here longer. So've all the others though. It pretty much takes over your life. Makes everything else seem irrelevant somehow. Like it's the only thing that matters, y'know?" Rose nodded, smiling sadly.

"Yeah, I know. I once lost a whole year... my mum didn't appreciate that." Their eyes met and they both grinned wryly, finding common ground. Rose paused before continuing. "So, what's it like here? I mean, how's it run? What are your jobs?"

"Well, my official job's to liaise with the police - that's how I got involved in the first place, I was on duty and spotted them bringing people back to life." Rose raised her eyebrows slightly at that, but didn't interrupt. "We all do a bit of everything really though. Owen's the doctor; Tosh is a genius with computers. Ianto will do just about anything that needs doing. And Jack..." Gwen paused, and Rose swallowed self-consciously, watching her intently. "Jack makes us a team."

It took a lot of willpower for Rose to respond, because that was exactly how she'd felt about her Jack. Before they'd met him, she'd been the Doctor's sidekick, and she'd loved every minute of it, just as she had with her new Doctor after they'd left Jack behind. But while Jack was there, it was different; they'd all seemed to be equals, working together, combining their skills. A team.

"Sounds like you all work well together." She forced the words out, conscious that it didn't exactly follow on from Gwen's words but not knowing what else to say. "I'm looking forward to meeting the others and seeing you all in action.

Gwen shrugged. "We have our moments. But we usually work out our differences, one way or another."

Rose nodded, but she wasn't really listening.

Jack might arrive at any minute, and she had no idea what she was going to do when he arrived. 


	3. Forceful Memory

It was a very long afternoon.

Ianto kept her supplied with a constant mug of coffee - which, she had to admit, was very good indeed - but both he and Gwen had other things to do than entertain her. That was definitely a good thing as far as she was concerned; she did not feel up to much conversation. She asked Ianto to set her up with some of their recent Rift activity reports so that she could pretend to be doing something useful, but she wasn't at all surprised to find that she couldn't concentrate. She was far too tense.

She ended up staring blankly at the screen, random thoughts and memories moving through her head almost too fast for her to follow.

Standing in midair in front of Big Ben. Laughing at the sonic screwdriver. Dancing in the console room.

Would he still be such a flirt? A brilliant mechanic? Would he wear a long coat?

Jumping Jack Flash. Taking command. Catching her when she fell.

Would he still be from the 51st century? Able to turn anything into an innuendo? Would he even like her?

A door opened and she snapped out of her reverie, completely alert and on her feet in an instant.

This was it.

She heard him before she saw him, and her heart stopped for a moment. It was him. The voice was just as she remembered it; that delicious accent, that deep voice that had caught everyone's attention. And then he turned, and smiled, and she smiled back and moved forward automatically.

"Miss Tyler, I imagine?" he asked, and she froze, realising what she'd been about to. She swallowed, blinked, and reapplied her smile.

"Yes. And you..." She couldn't say it. Because this man standing in front of her, looking exactly as she remembered Jack, wasn't him.

"Captain Jack Harkness," he said, coming to join her on the office level and offering her his hand. She hesitated, but could think of no excuse, so shook it. The big, warm hand that had held hers so many times, but in another world, another universe.

"So, you've come to check out how we do things around here," Jack said with a smile. "I hope you'll be impressed." He winked at her and she forgot how to breathe.

Everything went dark.

When she came round, she was in a different room. The walls were white - shabby looking white bricks - and the natural light of a late September afternoon was streaming in. When she sat up she realised it had to be the medical area; she was on some sort of table covered in a white cloth, and various pieces of surgical equipment littered another table which sat in front of a large window.

Way to go, Rose Tyler. Seven years working for Torchwood, two years travelling through time and space, and the first time you faint is when Jack Harkness winks at you. And it's not even the right one.

Rose groaned. She was beginning to think this had been a very bad idea.

There were light footsteps behind her and she turned to see a short dark haired woman smiling down at her from the upper level.

"You're awake, I see," she said, coming down the stairs towards her.

"Yeah... not sure what came over me," replied Rose with a half-grin. "I guess you must be Tosh?" She nodded.

"Toshiko Sato. I've run some basic tests on you but everything seems to be normal; have you eaten anything today?"

"Ye- er, no," Rose corrected herself quickly, taking the excuse being offered. "I guess that's what happened. And I didn't get much sleep either."

"So you've been running on empty then. Looks like Torchwood One trained you well," Tosh said with a sardonically raised eyebrow. Rose shrugged.

"No harm done, I guess. I thought you were in charge of the technology side though, isn't Owen supposed to be the doctor around here?"

"He is, but he's still out. I used to be a doctor, it's just not my main job anymore. I don't mind. Computers tend to be less bloody. Now, I'd better go and find you some food. Did you want to come and sit upstairs where it's a bit more comfortable?"

Rose shook her head. "I think I'll stay here for a little while if that's okay." Tosh looked at her slightly quizzically, but then nodded and left Rose to her thoughts.

It wasn't him. She'd known that, hadn't even let herself consider the possibility that it might be the same Jack, but seeing him, a stranger in a friend's body, had been even harder than she'd expected. It was like a strange reversal of what had happened when the Doctor regenerated; then it had been the same man, just a different shape. Once she'd made the connections, subconsciously grafting the new face onto the old, it had been easy. This time, she realised, she was going to have to cut the links.

But every time she pictured him, she remembered.

And now she would have to face him again. 


	4. Subtle Proposition

It was a few minutes before she found the courage to leave the medical room. She sat there, just wanting to go back to London, but knowing that the chances of doing that without bumping into Jack again were slim indeed. And if she did manage it, it would be a doubly wasted trip, since she would have absolutely nothing of interest to report to Torchwood One.

Considering the effort that had gone into her cover story, she didn't really consider that an option.

Steeling herself against the unknown, she began to make her way up the stairs.

She reached the office area to find Tosh heading in her direction, carrying what looked rather suspiciously like a couple of pizza boxes.

"This was the best I could do I'm afraid, the sandwich place just closed for the night," Tosh said apologetically.

"Oh believe me, that's more than alright," Rose said with a grin. "Pizza is my number one comfort food. Well, number two anyway, after chips."

"Well, enjoy," Tosh said, putting the boxes down. "Ianto and I have to go and check the Rift readings for today, and Gwen's left for the night, but Jack will probably be down when he smells the pizza." Rose nodded in response, her mouth already full. She didn't really know what to say anyway.

She was sitting on the sofa eating her third slice of pepperoni pizza when Jack reappeared. She swallowed nervously when she saw him.

"All better now then?" he asked with a smile, selecting what seemed to be a particularly large slice of pizza.

"Much, thank you," she replied, rather stiffly. "I, erm, I'm sorry about that."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much, I have that effect on people." Jack shot a cheeky grin in her direction. She tried to ignore it.

They sat in silence for a moment as Jack finished his slice of pizza, Rose looking around awkwardly and searching desperately for something to say that was neither completely irrelevant or utterly ridiculous. Since most of her thoughts were currently revolving around invisible spaceships, champagne and nanogenes, she was immensely relieved when Jack spoke first.

"Need somewhere to sleep tonight?" It took her a moment to realise that it wasn't a proposition - not entirely at any rate - but a genuine question.

"Er, yes. I mean, I have somewhere, thanks. I'm staying at the Travelodge. St. Maria's Street."

"Know how to get there?"

"Got the car. Inbuilt navigation system. Should only take five minutes or so."

Jack nodded and reached for another slice of pizza.

"Well, if you want to stay a bit nearer the action, my bed's available."

If this were her Jack, she'd flirt back, or maybe just punch him lightly and laugh at how incorrigible he was. This Jack was a different matter. She looked at him blankly.

"I don't need much sleep," he added with a smile that was part explanation and part invitation.

To that, there was no response. She opened the second pizza box instead.

Rose waved the key card in front of the lock and entered her room with a sigh. Closing the door behind her, she leant back against it with a sigh. The drive up to Cardiff seemed a lifetime ago.

She slowly moved around the room, turning on the bedside lamp and filling the kettle. Chips and pizza might make good comfort food, but nothing could beat a mug of hot chocolate at the end of a long day. Especially when that day revolved around a parallel version of Captain Jack Harkness.

It was difficult to know what to do next really. She would have to stay around for at least a couple of days, but she wasn't sure she could deal with Jack's flirting for much longer. It was just so difficult to distinguish him in her mind. There were differences of course - there wasn't the natural ease with this Jack that had characterised her relationship with the other, and it felt rather like they were on different teams instead of the same side - but he was still Jack. And she knew without a doubt that if this Jack had been the one she'd met in 1941, things would have gone exactly the same way.

She wondered vaguely how he'd ended up here at Torchwood; whether his life had run in parallel to her Jack's for the most part; whether her Jack had somehow become part of Torchwood in her own universe. If he had, she'd no doubt he'd improve it greatly, in his own unique way.

Of all the many things that she'd done and not done with the Doctor, she regretted that the most - that she'd never insisted on going to see Jack again. She'd accepted that he was busy - rebuilding the Earth was a fairly important task after all - and been swept up in the panic of a dodgy regeneration. And when that scare was over, they'd somehow just never got round to it. She wondered if the Doctor had ever gone to find him, after she'd been trapped here; she could never have that chance now.

Except, in a funny way, that was exactly what she had. 


	5. Absorbing Task

_She is on fire._

_Her whole body is burning, burning like the sun._

_There is singing in her head, beautiful and strange but utterly right._

_It is part of her and she can see everything._

_Everything that is, that was, that ever could be._

_She sees the Doctor, surrounded by Daleks, prepared for death._

_She reaches out and the Daleks dissolve into golden dust._

_She sees the ships, ready for war, assembled in the skies._

_She reaches out and the ships dissolve into golden dust._

_She sees Jack, crumpled to the floor, exterminated by the Daleks._

_She reaches out and Jack breathes again_.

When Rose woke up, she felt as if she'd hardly slept. She put the kettle on in a daze and headed for the shower.

She supposed it made sense that she'd dream about Jack after seeing his doppelganger for the first time, but there was something very strange about it. She remembered it vividly for one thing, whereas she usually forgot her dreams as soon as she woke up. For another, it felt very real.

She put it out of her mind as she let the hot water cascade over her. The last thing she needed was to be worrying about some silly dream when she had to face another day of Jack Harkness. What she needed was a very strong cup of coffee. And possibly some toast.

By the time she reached the Hub, despite having had two espressos on the way, she was only marginally more awake, and she accepted Ianto's offer of coffee gratefully. She was, it seemed, going to need a lot of it today.

When she reached the main room, the team hardly looked up. Gwen, Tosh and Jack were there, along with another man Rose assumed must be Owen. They were gathered around one of the desks, apparently studying some kind of artefact.

"I've never seen these kinds of markings before," Jack said with a frown. "Is the translation programme ready to run yet, Tosh?" Tosh glanced over at the nearest screen.

"Close, but not quite. It's still loading."

"Forget the markings, what is it?" demanded Owen impatiently.

"We don't know, obviously," Jack replied, in a tone that spoke volumes. "Hopefully that's what the translation will be able to tell us." There was a moment of silence as the two men glared at each other. Gwen and Tosh looked uneasily from one to the other. Rose felt it might be a good time to intervene.

"Good morning all," she said, as brightly as she could manage. "Got anything interesting there?" The women gave weak smiles of greeting, whilst Owen looked away, for all the world like a moody teenager. Jack was the first to recover.

"Good morning, Miss Tyler," he said, indicating that she should come and examine the object for herself. "Any thoughts on this? We got disturbance signals for Bute Street early this morning, and found it when we went to take a look."

"Call me Rose," she replied absently as she moved towards the desk.

The object was spherical, slightly larger than a cricket ball. It was a pale lilac colour, shimmering in the light and with a slightly transparent look. It stood on three spindly legs and was covered in gold markings. Markings she recognised.

"It's Andricallan," she said in wonder as she picked up the object to examine it more closely. "Oh, I could've done with this last year... isn't it gorgeous? Probably not worth much to them, it's just a little trinket box really..." She ran her eyes over the markings, frowning slightly, then put it back on the desk. "Let's see if I remember this... imarilievo/i," she murmured. And the sphere expanded, then opened. There was nothing inside, but Rose grinned broadly. Jack whistled.

"Impressive, Rose Tyler. How did you know that?"

"I'm on the languages team, and we spent several months last year working on this one. We found a couple of things which basically turned out to be instruction manuals, and managed to put together a pretty detailed vocabulary for the language. You probably won't have it on your system yet, it was the first time we'd seen it."

"Good thing you were here then," Jack said with a grin. "Tosh is good, but it would've been at least a few days before we figured that one out."

"You probably wouldn't have anyway; asking things to open like that seems to be standard practice for the Andricallans. The markings on the box aren't instructions, they're just a quote. As far as I can tell it's a pretty close match to 'home is where the heart is'." Gwen laughed at that.

"You can't be serious?"

Rose shrugged. "I could be wrong, but it's definitely something along those lines."

"Would you be able to help me with putting this into the system?" asked Tosh. "We haven't had a programme update from Torchwood One for the last three years, so anything you can help with would be good."

"Course I will, nothing better to do."

Owen shook his head and walked away, muttering something about "just a stupid jewellery box". Jack rolled his eyes apologetically at Rose and headed after him.

Rose ran her fingers over the sphere again. She knew how she was going to play this now. Because as long as she was working, she wasn't thinking about Jack.


	6. Distinctive Weaponry

The morning went on quietly. Gwen slouched at one of the nearby desks, idly flicking through a magazine and occasionally glancing at the screen, keeping an eye on the temporal fluctuations. Ianto moved through the office, clearing up empty coffee cups and removing the pizza boxes which still sat on the sofa from last night, then settled at another computer. Owen still hadn't reappeared, and Jack had left him to his own devices before heading to a staircase at the back of room. Considering that they were sat slap-bang on top of a rift in time and space, Torchwood Three seemed very quiet indeed. 

Rose sat with Tosh at her computer, trying to remember what she could of the Andricallan language. She thought she was doing pretty well, but spelling had never been her strong point even in English. In a language made up primarily of circular symbols, it was very easy to get confused, and with only the markings on the sphere to check it against she wasn't sure how much of what she remembered was really accurate. Still, it was better than nothing, and it certainly gave her something to think about. The more concentration required the better, that was today's motto, and this particular task was fulfilling it rather nicely.

"We've got a disturbance on Corporation Road," Gwen said suddenly, abandoning her magazine and leaning closer to her screen. "Moving towards Grangetown as far as I can work out, so must be something alive." Rose moved to peer over her shoulder. The monitor showed a map of Cardiff, with a large blue line running through the middle from north to south, and several thinner lines running off it in all directions. A flashing blue circle was making its way along one of the roads.

"Wow... it's so... messed up," breathed Rose, realising for the first time just how bad the rift really was. "I guess quiet mornings are pretty rare, huh?"

"Oh yeah," replied Jack, coming up behind them. "Not something we get much of round here. Tosh, Gwen, Ianto, you go and investigate. And don't forget the comms kit, because I really don't want to spend my afternoon driving around Cardiff trying to find you again." He slid into the seat which Gwen had just vacated and began studying the screen intently. The others moved towards the door, gathering various bits of equipment, and Gwen waved goodbye as they left. Feeling rather awkward, Rose sat back down in front of Tosh's computer and attempted to reimmerse herself in the translation programme, but it wasn't long before her thoughts were interrupted again.

"Aha... Rose, feel like doing some fieldwork? Looks like we've got another one." She glanced up from the screen to find Jack looking at her expectantly.

She grinned and grabbed her jacket. Languages were all well and good, but fieldwork was just so much better.

The big black SUV was standard Torchwood issue, and Rose felt instantly more at home as she slid into one of the familiar leather seats. The drive only lasted a few minutes, during which Jack contacted Tosh to fill her in.

"We've got a disturbance on Bromsgrove Street, Rose and I are heading out now," he said into the tiny microphone. "No, I left him to it, figured we could handle it. What are you dealing with?" He paused. "Ooh, nasty. Have fun. Keep in contact." He pressed a button on the earpiece and turned to Rose. "They've got three Weevils. Care to venture a guess as to what we're gonna end up with?"

"Ooh, could be anything," Rose said, savouring the anticipation. It had been a while since she'd been on a mission where she didn't know what she'd be dealing with; most of the time the language team was only called in later in the day, when the facts were already established. She'd felt drawn to her current job, but she still missed the excitement of being on a core field team. "Y'know, I've never actually seen a Weevil. Don't get 'em in London."

Jack glanced over at her, surprised.

"Really? They're the bane of our existence. Never get a week off. There are hundreds of them living in the sewers. Most of the time those ones are pretty tame though; it's the brand spanking new ones that've just come through that like to make trouble."

"There are hundreds of aliens living under Cardiff?" Rose asked, shocked. Jack shrugged.

"Don't really think of them as aliens any more. They're pretty much just big rats. Bit more vicious, and definitely more ugly, but just rats. As long as they don't start storming the surface, we let them be. Not much we could do against so many anyway."

Rose raised her eyebrows but didn't reply. She was beginning to realise that Torchwood Three did things very differently to the London branch. She wasn't sure yet whether it was a good thing or not, but it was definitely something to keep an eye on.

They finished the drive in silence. They got out just around the corner from Bromsgrove Street, and Rose found herself armed with a couple of blasters - set to stun - and a can of what looked like pepper spray. She gave Jack a sceptical look.

"Most effective way to stop a Weevil. Stun guns only last a few minutes, pepper spray can knock 'em out for hours."

Well, they certainly had interesting ways of doing things.


	7. Cruel Necessity

They walked in silence as they approached Bromsgrove Street. Jack led the way, and Rose was reminded forcefully of the many times she had followed her own Jack and the Doctor into danger. This was so similar, and yet completely different; pepper spray wouldn't have been much of a surprise with the Doctor, whose bizarre methods had never failed to amaze her, but she was fairly sure she wouldn't have been holding a blaster. That was a long time ago though; seven years at Torchwood had made the feel of a gun as familiar as anything else, and any qualms the Doctor had instilled in her about shooting had quickly been extinguished by necessity. Without the benefits of sonic screwdrivers and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the universe, there wasn't much else to rely on. 

They reached the corner and Jack slowed down. He peered carefully around it for a moment, then looked back and shrugged at her. They advanced down the street cautiously, but it seemed deserted. Rose could just about make out the noise of someone's stereo coming from one of the terraced houses, but that was all. They reached the point halfway down the road, where another joined it, and stopped. Jack, frowning, looked at his watch. Well, wrist-com, Rose corrected herself, realising what he was doing.

"That's odd... the output's still coming from this area, but there's nothing in sight..." He looked around again, frown still firmly in place.

"Any chance they're underneath us?" Rose asked, pointing to a nearby drain. Jack shook his head in response.

"Nope, that's a different map altogether. We have to be pretty accurate with this stuff, or we'd never stop."

Rose laughed at that. "You mean because things are so quiet normally?"

Jack grinned back at her. "You got it." He looked at her calmly for a minute before speaking again. "So why is it that Torchwood One have sent a language expert to check up on us? Seems rather bizarre to me." Rose felt herself blush slightly and looked away.

"I guess I was just curious," she said quietly, uncomfortable under his scrutinising gaze.

"Huh. I see." Jack fell silent, still watching her. "There's more to you than meets the eye, isn't there?"

Rose looked up at him, feeling slightly panicked, unsure what he meant. "I don't-"

There was a crash behind them and they turned almost as one, bringing their blasters up as they did so. The creature looked terrified as it cowered against the wall, crouching behind the bin which it had knocked over. It looked to be slightly shorter than Rose, with a humanoid shape, but its mouth and eyes seemed huge. Its teeth looked vicious and Rose was very aware that this was a predator. Perhaps not a predator of humans, but still quite clearly able to do a lot of damage.

"A Weevil," Jack supplied. "Not fully developed yet; I'd guess the equivalent of a young teen."

"What do we do?" asked Rose, unwilling to use either of the weapons she had. "It's terrified."

"We'll have to take it in," Jack replied grimly. "If we leave it loose, it'll hurt someone eventually."

"But we can't just lock it up, it hasn't done anything! Can't we take it to the sewers? Let it join the others?"

Jack shook his head. "It's too young. If it'd been born here, yeah, but it's come through the Rift - they'd tear it to pieces 'cause it's too weak to look after itself." He strode forwards. The Weevil snarled in fear, moving as far away as it could, and Jack aimed the pepper spray at it. "Sorry, boy," he said quietly. "Nothing else we can do." It made a strange spluttering noise, then passed out. Jack threw the car keys to Rose, but she missed; as she reached down to pick them up, Jack did the same with the Weevil, cradling it in his arms and walking purposefully back down the street.

She swallowed unhappily; this was just a child, and they were going to lock it up. And the worst part was that she knew Jack was right. There was no other option.

The silence was uncomfortable as they drove back to the Hub. The Weevil lay unconscious in the back of the van, speaking far louder than any words could. Although Rose knew that Jack's decision was the right one - and she'd been pleased to note the obvious regret in his voice as he spoke to the Weevil - she still didn't like it. She was also keenly aware that the questions Jack had started to ask would be repeated sooner or later, and that worried her. Jack had been trained to respect rank until it was almost instinctive, and she knew that he had to have a good reason in order to risk questioning her authority. She couldn't think of any way he could possibly know anything about her past, but something wasn't right.

When they arrived, Rose followed him to the cells, watching as he lay the Weevil gently on the bed. He stood for a moment looking at it, and when he turned away she caught a glimpse of something in his eyes. Regret perhaps, or sadness. But within moments, it was gone, and there was Jack as she had always known him, complete with his usual grin. Closing the cell door, he gestured for her to lead the way with a mock-gallant bow, and she was almost convinced she had imagined it.


	8. Dangerous Attraction

The Hub was quiet; Gwen, Tosh and Ianto had not yet returned, and it looked like Owen was still making himself scarce. She made a mental note to herself to find out what exactly was going on there - she knew from experience that the sort of friction she could sense here made for bad teamwork. In her role as investigator from Torchwood One, she'd have to report back on that, but there was no point running away with the idea; he could just be having a bad day, but she felt it would have to be a ireally/i bad day to justify sulking for hours over an alien jewellery box. 

"Coffee?" Jack offered, and Rose nodded gratefully, aware for the first time of the loss of the adrenaline which had been keeping her going. A wave of exhaustion swept over her and she allowed herself to collapse onto the sofa with a sigh, leaning back and closing her eyes.

"One cup of coffee," Jack said, startling her out of a doze. "Not quite up to Ianto's standards no doubt, but it'll do." Rose sat up properly and took the mug he offered, moving up slightly as he joined her on the sofa.

It was strangely relaxing to be sitting there. She couldn't help remembering all the times when she and Jack had collapsed on the sofa in the TARDIS living room after their adventures, the Doctor tending to leave them to it whilst he tinkered around in the console room. It had usually been tea then. Occasionally something stronger; it was from Jack that she'd learnt to appreciate both brandy and whisky. She smiled at the thought, recalling one particular occasion when they'd both drunk rather too much and become more than a little tipsy. The Doctor had walked in on them laughing uncontrollably about something they couldn't even remember, had shaken his head with a despairing smile, but to their surprise he had joined them and even had a glass of his own. That had been a good evening.

She drank her coffee slowly, watching Jack out of the corner of her eye. With this Jack so close to her, it was so difficult to remember that he hadn't been there, had never saved her from death by barrage balloon, never danced with her on an invisible spaceship. Difficult to remember that this was a different person.

He looked up and caught her eye, held her gaze. She stared back, unable to look away. Her mind went blank; the air was suddenly filled with a tension she hadn't noticed before and she felt as if she were trapped in that one moment. Somewhere very faint in the back of her mind she was aware of the irony of that, time-traveller that she once was, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

Jack turned away, took a sip of his coffee, and Rose was jerked out of her trance-like state. She swallowed, sat back, trying to cover her confusion.

She was fairly sure that she'd just nearly kissed Jack Harkness.

Move. That seemed like a sensible thing to do. She got up and walked towards Tosh's computer, scolding herself mentally for her unsteady movement. She settled herself at the desk, from which she could still see Jack's profile as he sat drinking his coffee, and attempted to look like she was doing something useful. She knew perfectly well that it wasn't going to happen, that there was far too much going on in her head to allow her to concentrate on anything as mundane as languages, but she did not want to give Jack any opportunity for conversation.

She'd thought she was doing so well. Not brilliantly perhaps - the first act certainly hadn't gone to plan - but all things considered, pretty well. She hadn't fallen into the obvious trap and said anything too stupid, anything that might give her away. Nope, she'd just gone and done exactly what she'd done the first time around, and been completely caught up in the Jack Harkness charm.

Although, to be fair, there'd been very little actual charming today. Jack had been completely business-like for the most part; a few of his trademark grins, but not much else. Maybe she was wrong; maybe the two Jacks weren't as similar as she'd thought.

She'd still fallen for it though, hook, line and sinker. She knew without a doubt that if he'd kissed her, she wouldn't have been able to pull away, wouldn't even have wanted to. She'd spent months living with Jack Harkness once upon a time, but with the Doctor acting as her silent protector the chemistry between them had remained just that; it had sizzled and flared and made life even more exciting, but never came to anything. Much like her relationship with the Doctor, come to think of it. Now that the Doctor was gone, now that there was a clean slate between her and this new Jack, she felt disorientated and uncertain of herself.

She was suddenly very aware that if she wanted to, she could play this in a way that her Jack would be proud of; she could take the chance, enjoy a brief fling and then go home, having said goodbye, putting her past behind her. And there was a big part of her that would like to, that wanted to indulge herself and finally find out whether he was really as good as he'd always told her.

Except she wasn't like that, had never been like that; affairs just weren't her style. She wouldn't be saying goodbye; she'd be clinging to something that was long gone, trying to recapture it. And she'd learnt from experience, having spent three long Doctor-less years with a TARDIS key hanging around her neck, that that was not a good idea.

She sighed and sipped her coffee, hoping to clear her head. It would be a very bad idea to let herself get close to Jack. Obviously. And since it looked like avoiding that would be difficult, it was probably time to get some work done and get out of here.

Shutting down the translation programme and pushing Jack to the back of her mind, Rose began to search through some of the files on the computer, searching for the Rift reports she'd been planning to look at yesterday. They were meticulous, with hourly readouts and every related incident recorded in individual files. They even recorded which users made the notes - Tosh and Ianto seemed to do most of them, whereas Owen didn't seem to have used the programme in months. The reports were very matter-of-fact, but Rose found herself captivated by them. They might have aliens back in London, but this was something different; there were time-travellers in these records. Not deliberately so, not touring the universe like she'd once done, but people who had fallen through cracks in time and space and arrived here, Cardiff, of all the places in the universe.

The most incredible thing was the fact that all these people had somehow managed to settle in to the 21st century. She'd met a Neanderthal once who did that, managing to find a flat, a job and even a family, but he'd had the TARDIS to help him with the learning part, and Jack to give him a hand with the rest. And of course these people had Jack too; a medieval knight, a couple from the 34th century, a Roman soldier. Oh, she'd love to meet some of them, find out more about where they'd come from. The records were quite vague on that front, focusing primarily on how the team had helped them settle in, and then giving occasional updates where they'd obviously gone to check up on how they were doing.

Damn. Having just convinced herself that she needed to leave, she now seemed to have stumbled on a whole host of reasons to stay.

-------

Taking a deep breath, she looked up to see that Jack was still sitting on the sofa, apparently staring unblinkingly at the opposite wall. She wasn't completely sure she wanted to disturb him. Well, at least she had a specific topic in mind for discussion.

"Jack," she said hesitantly, standing up. He looked up almost instantly, and she smiled, relieved not to have startled him. "Jack, I've been looking through some of the Rift reports. You've got so many time travellers around here, I hadn't realized. I'd love to meet some of them, see how you've helped them settle in. That must be quite a task."

"Yeah, it's a lot of work. Interesting though. I'm guessing you don't have any of that back in London either then?"

Rose shook her head. "Nope, just standard alien stuff for us. Haven't got any nasty rifts just yet."

Jack got up from the sofa and moved over to join her at the computer. "Anyone in particular you'd be interested in meeting?" he asked, taking over the mouse.

"The couple from the 34th century looked interesting," Rose replied, moving her chair out of the way to let him nearer the screen. "And there was a woman from the early 1800s too, she looked like she'd be worth a visit."

"Well, one of us will take you to see them tomorrow," Jack said, bringing the contact details for the couple from the future up on the screen. "I'll give them a call later and let them know we'll be round." He glanced at the time display in the corner of the screen. 16:34. "Right now though, I'd better check in with Gwen." He moved away from the computer, pressing a button on his headset.

Rose didn't bother to listen in, choosing instead to focus on the screen in front of her. Jenni and Andrew, aged 32 and 33 respectively. Funny, she thought, how names in the future hardly seemed to change.

"They'll be in within a few minutes," Jack told her. "They had to chase the third one halfway to Riverside, but they've left them with the others in the sewers now. Tagged so we know where to find them if they start getting lively."

Rose nodded, glad that they hadn't had to lock any more Weevils up today.

When they returned, they all sat around for a while, sipping at drinks, casually discussing the more interesting parts of the two assignments. Rose was fairly quiet, not feeling quite at ease enough to really contribute, but she listened eagerly. She couldn't help comparing the situation to the lengthy debriefs they were put through at Torchwood One, with everyone involved giving a full breakdown of what had happened as they saw it. This was without doubt a nicer way of doing things, and when she considered the detailed notes entered into the computer, she really couldn't see any reason why it should be any different. Smaller team, less formal, but no less efficient. At least not as far as reporting went.

She yawned, then grinned apologetically as Gwen and Tosh both followed suit.

"I think I'm going to take off," Gwen said, stretching as she stood up. "Got to go and find something to eat. Anyone want to join me?" Tosh raised her hand.

"I will, I've got nothing better to do." Jack and Ianto both shook their heads. "Should we ask Owen?"

"No, I'm going to go and have a little chat with him." Jack sounded grim. "If he's not careful he's going to be losing more than just a job."

Gwen nodded, then looked at Rose. "Want to come?"

Rose hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "Why not?"


	9. Painful Truths

Dinner was a simple affair. The three women sat in a small Italian restaurant, sharing a bottle of wine and talking about nothing in particular. It was a pleasant enough way to pass the time, but Rose couldn't stop her mind from wandering, and she was relieved when they finally headed out into the evening with a casual goodnight.

Although she was glad to be alone again, it was still early, and she found herself unsure of what to do next. She considered going back to her hotel room and watching television for a while, but the thought held little attraction for her. If she was honest with herself, all she wanted to do was go back to the Hub and go over some more of the time travellers' files, but she was determined to avoid the possibility of being alone with Jack. After this afternoon she didn't trust herself with him at all. It was so complicated, with so many emotions tied up in it, and she was fairly certain that if he looked at her in the right way just now it wouldn't be long before she threw herself at him. And that would not be very sensible, particularly in light of her alleged professional role.

She found herself an empty bench on the docks and sat down, looking out across the sea. It was a long time since she'd been to the coast. Since Bad Wolf Bay, she simply hadn't wanted to. Now, watching the gentle lull of the waves under the artificial light of the lamps along the walkway, the only word she could find to describe her feelings was wistful. The memories tried their hardest to surface, but she had grown more than efficient at suppressing them and she pushed them away with very little effort. Memories alone weren't her problem right now; memories come to life were.

She sat there for a while, lulled by the soothing rhythm, then finally pushed herself to her feet. She began to wander away from the docks, passing the office entrance to the Hub with only the slightest hesitation, and headed towards the Plass. It was at that point that the unmistakeable smell of chips wafted past, and she smiled to herself. At least there were some memories that didn't need to be ignored.

"So how are we shaping up so far?" Jack asked as they drove along on their way to visit the travellers from the future. "I mean, are you planning to get us all fired any time soon? 'Cause that's the kind of thing I like to know in advance."

"I think you're doing okay," Rose replied, then frowned. "Although I'm not too sure about this Owen guy. He's not exactly impressing me so far."

"He's not exactly impressing me, either," Jack said darkly. "He's been like this for a while, but it's getting stupid now."

"How long's a while?"

Jack shrugged. "It's difficult to say really. A month or two, maybe longer."

"And you're still keeping him on?" Rose said in disbelief.

"He's good at his job. Or at least he used to be."

"'Used to be' doesn't cut it, not for what we do. In my second year at Torchwood we had a guy who was a bit past it, and he nearly got the whole team killed."

Jack didn't answer her, and she could see from the closed look on his face that he wasn't planning to. There was obviously something going on here that she was missing.

"How far away is it?" she asked, breaking the silence which had fallen.

"Another 40 minutes or so. We thought they'd be better off out in the countryside, less chance of causing trouble that way."

They fell into silence again and Rose looked away, staring through the dark windows as they began to leave the city behind.

"Who are you really?" Jack asked abruptly. Rose turned back to face him quickly, shocked, and met his eyes. "Seriously. I know you're from Torchwood. I know you're meant to be Pete Tyler's daughter. But I also know that until seven years ago, you didn't exist. Nowhere to be found. So where the hell'd you come from?"

Rose found that she couldn't pull away from his gaze, and her mouth was suddenly too dry for her to speak. When Jack finally released her by turning back to face the road, she let out an audible sigh of relief and leant her head back, closing her eyes.

Damn. This was so not a good way to be answering this question.

"Tell me," he said, and there was an edge in his tone which she knew from experience meant he wouldn't be letting this one go. "Because you're not from round here."

Quite suddenly Rose found she had a new strength, and she sat up straight, looking ahead.

"I could say the same about you, Time Agent."

Jack was too well trained to let his shock show on his face, but she saw it anyway. It was in the clenching of his fists, the straightening of his shoulder blades; it was in every angle of his suddenly tense body. She had seen him like this before, in another time, another place, and it made her ache to throw her arms around him and hug the pain away.

Very calmly, Jack indicated off the road and pulled into an empty layby. He slowly put the hand brake on and turned the key in the ignition, keeping his face turned carefully away from her.

"How the hell do you know that?" he asked in a quiet, dangerous voice.

Rose swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath. "Oh, Jack... I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you."

Jack lifted his head then, a scathing look in his eyes. "You wanna bet?"

She looked back helplessly, unsure of what to say next or even how they'd got to this point. She'd been so determined that none of this would be an issue, so keen to avoid any of this coming out that she hadn't really considered what she'd do if it did.

"Tell me," he said, and his voice was almost a growl.

"I knew... another you. A long time ago." Jack waited, eyes narrowed. She sighed and looked away. "In another world."

"Explain," he said through gritted teeth.

Rose leaned back in her chair, raising her eyes to the car ceiling, then looked back at him and said quietly. "I come from a parallel universe, Jack. That's why I didn't exist before, because this isn't where I was born. I came here with my mum seven years ago, and I'm stuck here. Can't get back. An' when I was there, before, I knew... this other you. We... erm, we travelled together for a while."

"How did you get here?"

"That was Torchwood. Torchwood One here, that is. Well, actually, I'd been here before, the first time the Cybermen came, but we got home again. Then we had to send them all into the Void and I almost got swept in, and my dad - well, sort of - came and got me and brought me here, and I couldn't get back again. And I left... well, I'm stuck here."

"That makes no sense. If it wasn't for the fact that it tallies up, I wouldn't believe a word of it." Jack leaned forward onto the steering wheel, arms crossed, then shook his head. "You knew another me?"

"Yes," Rose answered quietly.

"How?"

"How what?"

"How did you know me? When did you meet me? Why did I go travelling with you?"

"Long story," Rose said wistfully, looking out of the car window across the damp fields.

"Doesn't matter. We're not going anywhere until you tell me."

"I met you during World War Two." She found it difficult to get the words out, and had to swallow before continuing. "I... I was hanging from a barrage balloon wearing a top with a Union Jack on it, and then I fell, and you... you caught me in a tractor beam and got me to your ship. And then I fainted." She smiled slightly. "Seem to have a habit of doing that around you."

She glanced over in Jack's direction. He seemed to be deliberately trying to avoid her gaze. "Anyway. Turned out you were the reason we'd ended up there in the first place, chasing some Chula ambulance that you thought was rubbish but which actually contained nanobots which tried to rewrite the DNA of the whole human race, but we sorted it all out in the end, and the Doctor decided he'd let you come with us."

"The Doctor? Who? No, it doesn't matter... there were nanobots in there? But..." Jack's face was whiter than she'd ever seen it. "But... I did that... here... how?"

Rose frowned. "You brought the Chula ambulance to London here too? But people here... they're normal... when it happened in my world, people started growing gas masks. I guess... I guess it was just one of those differences, like I was never born here, and Mickey was called Ricky... maybe there just weren't any nanobots on your ambulance. That's gotta be it. So you probably never met Nancy... she saved us all in the end, she did. Did the bomb go off?"

Jack visibly flinched at that, then said, "Yes. It went off." His voice was curt, and she decided not to press him on that.

"Anyway," she said in as light a tone as she could manage. "That's when I met you. An' you came with us after that. That's how I know you were a time agent." She frowned, then softened her voice. "And that's how I know about the memories they stole, too." Jack winced again, turning his face away from her. She reached out and touched his arm lightly. "I'm sorry." Then she opened the car door and stepped out into the wet morning, leaving him alone with his thoughts.


End file.
